CopyCat
by Tsuyoku
Summary: She had never had a special move or amazing powers; Sakura was just the damsel in distress until she became obsessed with proving them all wrong... namely one man. NejiSaku
1. Rescued

Tsuyoku: This is my new story. Don't worry, I'm going to have Sound Sleep and Tempt of Fate updated soon if you guys are also following those stories. If you aren't and you like this story then I encourage you to check those out. Well, here's a new one that I just suddenly thought about when I was exercising one day... You'll see how the name comes into play soon enough. ^.^

**CopyCat**

_She had never had a special move or amazing powers. Sakura was just the damsel in distress until she became obsessed with proving them all wrong... namely one man._

Sakura felt like a failure...

She sat with her back against a tree, holding back tears as to not seem more weak than she'd already proven herself to be. The girl held her face in sweaty hands that smelled of the grass she'd been gripping not two seconds ago. Every time she blinked, Neji's face came back to her mind; the look he'd given her was of a condescending disgust—mostly at the state in which he had found her.

Not that he had 'found' her in the first place, Sakura noted. Neji was there to rescue her from captivity that resulted from a stupid mistake on a mission Tsunade had assigned her and Naruto. The obnoxious blond and she had split up in the forest and Sakura had been the one that got captured by a rogue nin. Naruto had obviously gone for help when he couldn't find her.

It had only been a day, not even twenty-four hours, but the time had crept slowly and painfully in that bare room. She'd been alone save the nin who read a book in the corner, obviously waiting for her cavalry. He had his guard down reading a book less than a yard from her! And she was helpless to do anything. The first thing Sakura had noticed was the lack of restraint to anything in particular, but as she struggled to rise, her legs and arms wouldn't move.

Sakura shook her pink head clear of the memories and lifted herself from the ground grasping the canteens as she rose. She'd been gone long enough and was now forced to return to the campsite, where she was sure the rest of the 'rescue squad' was waiting for water. But Sakura vowed to pretend she didn't know what they were all thinking even though Sakura was thinking the same thing.

Why had Tsunade sent someone as incompetent in the field as she was out on an A-rank mission? Sure, she'd completed six or seven A-ranks successfully, but this one had been the first that only requested two ninjas tops.

'I'm being a nuisance again, just like in the Chuunin exams. Why do I always have to be the damsel in distress? Is there any hope that I may one day prove them all wrong?' Sakura cursed herself for doing so much to tone down her 'Inner Sakura' monologues. Sometimes the girl needed some help and encouragement from her split personality, especially right now.

By the time she entered the campsite area, Sakura had composed herself to her fullest but still was uncertain about facing the disappointed stares: namely from the silver-eyed Hyuuga. But when she reached the center, she was surprised that only Choji sat poking at the fire.

"Where are the others?" Sakura handed him a canteen as she spoke, and he didn't reply until he had taken a hearty helping of the fresh water inside.

Wiping his mouth, Choji began, "Neji wandered off somewhere; don't ask me. Naruto said something about going to get something to eat, though I think he'll have trouble in this area." Sakura assumed that Choji regretted not carrying much food with him these days, even after sliming down so much. Grasping her abdomen, she sat near the small fire and turned the canteen to her own lips in hopes that some water might fill the empty spaces in her stomach.

"Hmm." Was all she said, for there was nothing that she would rather talk about to her quiet companion at that point. He was more talkative than some of the genin that she'd grown up around, which was more than Neji or... Sasuke could ever say. But truthfully, Sakura had nothing in common with the former team-ten member.

So her back collapsed against a nearby fallen tree, and she closed her eyes, glad to not have to encounter Neji and his degrading stares for the time being. However, she wouldn't be so lucky when it came time to return to Konoha the next morning; it would be impossible to avoid the pride-filled clan member, though most days Sakura was tempted tell him to shove something big and blunt where the sun didn't shine for all she cared when it came to his ego.

It was like her tedious nature when it came to her hair back in the day. When Sakura let her obsession to be beautiful fade, it made her a better ninja, maybe it would work for him if he actually talked to people instead of looking down his nose at them. Through her closed eyes, the scene with the now dead nin played back at her on repeat, including Neji's face when he looked at her.

But that was best left for later, since Sakura assumed she'd have to recount the entire incident to Tsunade when she returned.

This might just be her last mission for a while, but at the moment, considering her stiff muscles and the embarrassment, Sakura didn't quite mind the thought.

–

As the kunoichi had predicted, it was a long, grueling trip back to the village in which Neji gave her no looks, nor the time of day. In fact, Naruto was the only one who talked to her at all as they hopped from tree to tree, yet it was more casual talk and less affectionate than years prior—thanks to a transfer of attention to a certain female Hyuuga. It took her mind off the impending meeting with the Godaime for a couple of hours until the gates came into view. When they passed through, Neji and Sakura both made a bee-line for the Hokage's office while Choji and Naruto parted their own ways.

"It's about time you returned, Sakura," was her greeting as she completely bypassed Shizune and entered the office. Tsunade had meant to berate her apprentice more but stopped short when Neji followed in after her. The bustful woman was less inclined to embarrass Sakura in front him, and her hazel gaze turned towards Neji.

"Mission Successful." Tsunade nodded once at his announcement, looking at the paper on her desk.

"I assume the ninja has been neutralized."

"Completely." The dark haired man and Tsunade exchanged silent conversation for a moment before he turned on his heel and exited the office, sparing no glance for the pink-haired girl that had stood by his side.

"Sakura," Tsunade poured another glass of sake and leaned back in her chair. "If I decide to forgo yelling at you for causing an uproar, will you explain to me just why I had to send a recovery team for you?" Sakura looked down at the floor, ears red with anger at herself.

"It was a stupid mistake."

"They usually are."

Nodding, she took a seat in front of the desk.

"Naruto and I had the nin in sight and split up to attack from both sides. But I didn't realize that the form I had in sight was a copy and soon I found myself thrown against a tree by the target." She shifted uncomfortably in the chair for a moment, a little antsy about retelling the events. "And that was the last thing I remember before waking up in a bare room underground. The guy was blatantly sitting in the corner with his guard down reading a book; he was so engrossed, it reminded me of Kakashi with his dirty novels."

Tsunade threw a glance towards her apprentice who continued. "Well, I wasn't chained down or anything. There was no good structure to the wall to secure something like that. But I had these weights on my arms and legs. They must have weighed at least a couple hundred pounds because I couldn't move my arms, let alone lift anything to free myself." Sakura sighed. "I was defenseless, and I did not enjoy waiting for someone to rescue me."

Her eyes might have started to tear had she not blinked away the evidence, "And it didn't help that Neji was the one who found me! Can you imagine that? Spread eagle, laying on the floor helpless and who do I get to untangle me? Neji, who already has plenty of reasons to think me weak, why not add another one!" If there were tears before, they were gone; Sakura was in pumped mode.

Tsunade noticed this, and glanced out the window towards the forest. "There were a few trees destroyed today when some genins were training; use some of that extra chakra to patch them up—it'll take your mind off of the mission and Hyuuga." Sakura was about to comment that saving the forest wasn't really going to make her feel better, but past experience with Tsunade made her think better of it.

She lifted from the chair and had half her body out the door when her boss stopped her, "Sakura," the girl turned. "Don't let anything or anyone ever think that you aren't strong. You have many talents that most of the jounins, including Hyuuga, can't boast. Everyone has their areas of expertise."

_Easy for her to say_, Sakura commented in her mind. _She has plenty of signature moves that make her a formidable opponent, I don't even have one_.

–

The trees were healing very nicely, and Sakura would admit that relieving some of the extra chakra in her system had served to lessen some of the rage that had built up her chakra supply in the first place. She wiped a few beads of sweat off her brow with a delicate hand wondering if that's how people saw her—delicate.

She'd show them. It was a vow that the rosette had made many times in the past, but this time Sakura was willing to stick with her new goal of becoming someone who didn't need help to finish a mission or have to be rescued. If Naruto and her other teammates through the years had shown her anything it was that enough hard work (and in Naruto's case, yelling and determination) would get you to your goal no matter what.

"Sakura!" She turned around just in time to dodge a large open-armed hug from a large green blob.

"Hi, Lee." She waved her hand a bit in place of the hug. "I'm not really in the mood right now..." Lee saw the light dim for a second in her emerald eyes.

"What's wrong?" He sat down in front of her, eying the half healed tree in the background. As Sakura was pondering a proper, but vague, answer to his question, Lee's hand flew to his leg, itching the spot where his leggings met his spandex. Sakura almost forgot that there were weights under there, it was easy to look over for how hidden they were and with the ease in which he moved.

Wait...That was it!

"Lee, do you think you could help me with something?" Lee saw the motivation come back into her face and boasted that he would oblige anything. "Um, well, I kind of want to learn more and broaden my techniques a little. I don't have any signature moves of my own, so I wanted to learn from some of the others' fighting and training styles to see if I could get a little stronger... I don't want to have to rely on people to get through a mission anymore."

That couple hours of tree healing had left her time to think about just how she would accomplish her goal, and by the look in Lee's eyes Sakura could see that her little speech worked.

"Of course, Sakura! I will help you with any kind of training you want—if it's taijustu and weight training, that is." He rubbed his head sheepishly. "I'm not too good at genjustu or ninjustu. But whatever you need, I'm your man!" Sakura almost sighed; with the body motions and air about him altogether, Lee was becoming more and more like Gai every day—a scary thought to the rest of his friends.

"Good, when shall we begin?"

"How about tomorrow? I don't wanna start you off same day you've come back from a mission. How did that go, by the way?" Lee asked. Sakura made a promise to tell him about it the next day when they met for training, and off he went.

For the meantime, Sakura lay back on the cool grass, glad to have a breeze come into the area. Maybe Lee could help her after all.

–

Neji roamed about his room with a towel around his neck. He had needed a shower after that mission, for more than one reason. Camping out in the forest overnight with barely anything between you and the ground didn't guarantee cleanliness, of course, but it was that kunoichi.

When he'd first burst into the small room below ground that the ninja had been inhabiting, he'd seen Sakura's helpless form spread out on the floor in one of the more creative ways to secure a captive that he'd seen in a while. The way that her eyes had caught his for a brief moment begging him for help but pushing him away at the same time had struck something in Neji, but that was short lived. By the time he'd expended the man and crossed to her to lift the weights easily, the silent man took that as reassurance that she was just another weak wannabe.

But the thought, the image, of her laying there stretched out had been triggered in his mind every time he'd looked in her direction. In the woods, it was hard to miss something so ostentatious, so pink, and it was hard to miss her.

He dressed and stretched his arms and legs, preparing to head out for something to eat before talking to Tsunade about more missions. It was his wish to become ANBU captain someday, and the trials for that were usually aided by a strong successful mission background.

And so the dark-haired jounin exited the Hyuuga Branch estate and headed for town.

Would it be fate's cruel game if he didn't happen to pass by a certain woman on the way back? Neji thought not, as he stared at her form lying in the grass; her red top and white skirt contrasted and complimented the green grass framing her body among the trees' shade.

_She would be more attractive if she wasn't so weak_, he thought, slightly maliciously. He was angry that the subject even mattered to him in the first place. Not that Neji was interested in attraction: physical, emotional, or otherwise. His goals were set, and nothing would deter him.

As if on cue, said Sakura rolled over on to her stomach and came face to face, eye to eye with Hyuuga Neji as he stood across the dirt path staring at her.

What his reasons were for examining her, Sakura didn't know, nor was she prepared to imagine the possibilities. Even as he turned to continue his walk down the pathway, Sakura followed his lean form until it disappeared behind the trees around her. Neji would actually be attractive if he wasn't so much of an ice cube to everyone, but alas, Sakura had better things to think about, like proving to Neji... and the rest of the Konoha population that she was a strong kunoichi.

She would prove that she deserved the title however long it took.

–

Her training with Lee started early in the morning, so early, in fact, that Sakura was still yawning as she entered the sparring area where Lee was already stretching. Where he got so much energy even before the dawn officially rose, she would never understand. The pink kunoichi was slightly convinced that it had something to do with Gai being his mentor all these years. Both the look-a-likes had the somewhat 'more vigorous than normal' initiative that made the rest of the village just s their heads at. Lee had noticed her chakra even before the cherry-headed female had entered the clearing, and he rose from his lunges to meet her half way.

"My lovely Sakura!" He paused a few feet from her, not oblivious to the fact that she wasn't all awake yet and would probably punch him on reflex should he try anything. "Well, ahem," he coughed for a second. "Would you like to get going?"

Sakura blinked, "What? I thought we were training here..." Lee shook his head.

"Nope, I only said to meet me here. Since you asked me to train you, and this is a somewhat special occasion when my beautiful cherry blossom needs help, I have decided to take you to my special training area that Gai discovered. He taught me well in its boundaries and I will, as well, teach you."

_Pft. Whatever_, Sakura imagined in her head. He could spare her the speech and get along with letting her kick the shit out of things. She wanted to be able to defeat Neji in any kind of combat before they had their mission together.

She let Lee lead the way, finally noticing the area where trees split into something more open and Lee patted his feet onto the solid ground… where flowers grew all over the clearing.

"No wonder Gai likes this place so much..."

"Did you say something, Sakura?" She shook her head, not wanting to mention that Gai's' taste in training areas seemed to reflect his everyday way of life–she recalled his dances and boasts about "youthfulness" that still scared her to this day. She turned around to see Lee in a stance looking as if he was going to pounce her bones, and before Sakura could react, he did.

The pinkette tried her mightiest to dodge this way and that as he bounced along the forest floor while using the science of his body's fluent movements to attack his opponent. Sakura knew that she was doing barely enough to keep from getting hit, but as she slipped up for the last time, a fervent kick landed square on her side allowing her obliques to scream in pain. She doubled over for a moment, and Lee finally stopped.

"Well, that was a nice warm-up! Let's get started with the hard stuff, shall we?" Sakura looked up at his youthful face; he _had_ to be kidding her. Breathing heavy, she finally rose, clutching her side before letting some of the chakra heal the pulsing pain.

This was going to be a long day.

–

The next few days were exactly the same, until after the fourth session when Lee pulled an object wrapped in cloth out of his satchel. "You will have tomorrow off, but to prepare for our next spar together, you're going to have to wear these everywhere you go." Sakura's suspicions were confirmed when he loosened the cloth and some thin weights appeared.

_Well, at least they don't look as heavy as Lee's are. That's a good sign. _She reached out her hand to grab one, which immediately pulled her entire body to the soft grass._ I was wrong... _

"Let me help you with those." Lee took off her boots while she sat unmoving; Sakura noticed that he took his time in removing the shoes from her creamy legs, admiring them, more like. But as long as he did nothing inappropriate, he could look all he wanted. "There. Now, let's just put your shoes back on."

The shin boots that Sakura wore everyday hid the weights just like Lee's abhorent leg warmers did. But even though the anchors were thin, it by no means meant they were any lighter than Lee's were. "All set! Well, I guess I'll see you in two days," Lee started to exit the clearing as Sakura attempted to rise.

"Wait, Lee!" He turned back, knowing what she was going to say by the smirk on his face. "What about me? I can barely move in these things."

"That's why I gave you the next day off. It'll take you that long to get use to even walking in them. But don't worry, my dear Sakura, we shall start off slow when we train again. Be sure of that." And with that, Lee bounced off into the trees towards Konoha.

"Lee!"

–

It had taken her and ungodly amount of time to rise, let alone start walking towards the city, but when she finally reached the roads, where the trees became sparce and the city's lights reached her eyes, it was already starting to become dark. Sakura was livid. Lee could have at least helped her a bit, or warned her before hand, but at the same time she knew that this was the part she was going to have to work on.

Her feet dragged quite heavily through the sandy dirt on the roads, catching it in her toes. Ugh, Sakura knew she was going to have to clean that out as soon as she got home, which would be the perfect place to take the weights off while she slept. It was slightly embarrassing to walk so slow, especially when no one could see the weights on her legs, but it was reassuring that no one in their right mind would be out on the outskirts of town around this time of night.

Neji jumped from tree to tree glad to finally have reached Konoha after such a long mission. The objective had taken but a few hours to carry out, but the travel time back and forth from the Mist had been the greater part of the trip. He hovered on a branch, relaxing at the glow of the city in the fading light of the sky. Home—not that he even really considered it home when he was in the confines of the Hyuuga estate, but the city was his origin no less. At the thought, he grazed his hand lazily over the leaf emblem on his headband but was interrupted by movement from the edge of the forest.

Pink emerged from the leaves into his vision. Haruno? What the hell was she doing out here, and why was she walking so slowly? He focused on her legs, activating his Byakugan to see the weights strapped to her calves. He immediately thought back to the captor's genius way of anchoring her down to the floor and jumped to the ground right in front of her.

Sakura would have flinched when a ninja appeared in front of her so suddenly had she not felt the chakra of someone else in the forest with her, but what she didn't expect was it to be Neji. He was looking at her in an odd way—gaze moving from her face to her legs and then back up to her face again.

"Can I help you?" Ugh, this guy was annoying. First he just jumps in front of her and then he refuses to move while remaining silent.

"Why do you have weights strapped to your legs?" Sakura raised an eyebrow at his question before realizing that he probably saw them with his abilities.

"Because I can," she added. Sakura wished she could have fluently walked around him and continued towards town, but when she moved an inch one way, he blocked her path with his body.

"You realize that you are a sitting duck with such lack of movement out here. What if I had been a ninja from another village?" The rosette wondered why he cared at all but blamed it on his concern for the Konoha ninjas being the reputable best.

"Yes, I do. But I'll be fine once I make it home."

"Yeah, you'll arrive home... when dawn's starting to break." Neji shook his head, lifting her up and throwing her over his shoulder.

"What the hell do you think you are doing!?" Sakura started to beat his back with her hands and kick slightly with her weighted feet. "I don't need help, least of all from you!"

Neji pondered what she meant by that but instead replied, "You're right, you probably don't need my help. But you can train all you want with these weights when you are in the confines of Konoha. I'm not going to even ask what you are trying to prove with this amount of weight from the beginning, but at least try it when you can actually defend yourself or are around other people who will do that for you." Sakura stopped fighting back and kept quiet the entire trip to the city. She wasn't going to give him the benefit of knowing just how deep his words cut into her. She couldn't stand him! What gave Neji Hyuuga the right to look down upon anyone!

If he had any idea of how hard she was going to train, how determined she was to prove him wrong… he wouldn't give her those disapproving looks anymore.

The air flying by her head as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop had dried her face by the time she was set in front of her apartment building. Sakura said nothing to the Hyuuga genius as he turned and walked from her in the direction of the Hyuuga estate.

She lifted her keys from the pocket in her skirt and jabbed them into the lock, slowly making her ways up the stairs... one by one, excruciatingly slow. But she would make it. By the next time Sakura saw Neji Hyuuga, she would be running circles around him in these weights.

Meanwhile, the prodigy in question was still sauntering down the streets of Konoha wondering why he had dared helped the pink kunoichi. She had been in his mind off and on since the rescue mission had taken place. To tell the truth, Neji was sick and tired of his thought revolving around a woman since never (in his twenty years) had one plagued his mind so faithfully.

He could still feel the tingling sensation that remained when he set her down. The feeling of her body pressed flush against his shoulder and chest lingered, but he pushed the thought out of his mind, settling it on his male hormones. It was natural for a man his age to at least be focused on various things, including the opposite sex. However, he'd never let one control his conscience before, and he wasn't going to let that change now.

–

Sakura fell on her bed with a harder force than usual due to the weights on her legs. These were going to take weeks to get used to, but now wasn't the time to think about it, Sakura told herself. She dumped the sand and dirt from her sandals out the window before returning to her bed and focusing on how to take the weights off for the night. Her hands looked for a seam in the sticky substance adhering them to her leg, but she was unable to find one. Franticly she pulled at the top and bottom of the weights, trying to get them off before they drove her insane. But it was no use.

How in the hell were these stuck on? Sakura ran her hands over the weights finally concluding that Lee, to ensure she kept them on, had used some sort of chakra to bind them to her for the time being... She whimpered again falling back on the bed. Perhaps this was for the best. While the thought of beating the Hyuuga remained at the forefront of her mind, it might have been easy to slack a bit had Lee not added on this last bit of insurance.

She'd gotten herself into this... now Sakura was going to have to bear with it. After all, it was her idea—her dream to become stronger.

"Sakura, I want you to think about this," Tsunade tapped a pile of papers on the desk to straighten them. The Godaime had sent a messenger the previous night to Sakura's apartment letting her know that she wanted to see her the next morning. Sakura had been thankful of the forewarning, not knowing if should would have made it to the Hokage's office on time should she have been summoned without notice.

"I want you to go on more missions—for experience—but these that I have laid before you are more reconnaissance than anything. At best there wouldn't be very much combat, I hope, but I would feel better should a medic nin accompany any of these people when they leave." Tsunade leaned back in her chair, giving Sakura a little room to decide what missions she'd take. By giving her the choice of who she wanted to accompany, Tsunade hoped Sakura's spirits could be boosted by some extra lower-rank missions with a friend.

Sakura's pink head hovered over the scrolls, looking at the missions and the people that were going. There was a scroll mentioning Tenten and Hinata; Sakura picked up that scroll and offered it to her teacher. "This one isn't for almost two months—if you find one that's a little more recent, I'll let you accompany that as well.

Her eyes paged through the papers once more, noticing, at last, a name she had passed by at first. _Neji_.

Quickly, before she could even think about it, Sakura handed Tsunade that one as well. It was going to be in a few weeks and might last a while, but Sakura intended on at least becoming stronger and more useful to her teammates by then. What better exhibition than a mission with the cruelest judge?

The blonde scanned the new page, finding Neji's name. "Are you sure about this one, Sakura?" The pinkette just nodded because she didn't trust her voice. Sakura wasn't sure that it was the best thing, but she wanted to agree to it before her mind could be changed.

Now she had something to look forward to in her training.

"Alright, I will inform your teammates about your inclusion. Take note of the leave times and the mission statements in your copies." Tsunade looked as if she was finished, but something in her facial expression told Sakura this wasn't the end of the conversation.

The blonde tried not to notice how her student hobbled toward the door and instead offered a little bit of mind, "You don't have to try so hard to impress someone just because you care what they think about you. Are you really sure Hyuuga Neji is worth that kind of effort?"

"Maybe not, Tsunade, but I think I'm worth the effort. And he's good motivation."

Tsunade waited the couple minutes until Sakura was out the door. "Just as long as that motivation doesn't turn into an obsession, my dear."

–

Sakura stepped out into the sunny weather. Sakura felt more chilled despite the overhead sun bearing down of her pale features. Why had she done that? Initially, it seemed like a good idea, but the more she thought about it, the more it sunk in that this was a mission with Neji. Alone with the Hyuuga. She'd have to endure his stares of belittlement and the constant scrutiny. Did she think she was going to be able to impress him the entire time they were out together?

_No_, she thought. _I'm going to earn some respect before this mission. And then, he's going to understand that he's not the only one who worked hard to get where he is. _

Was this really such a good idea? Was this kind of brooding healthy?

She shook her head, _You can't change it now, Sakura. You're just going to have to earn his respect, that's all._

Yes, the woman thought darkly, he _will_ respect me.

–

Tsuyoku: I'm going to end it here, hopefully having established a pretty good footing for this story. Let me know what you think, I would really like some feedback about this all. I'm working on a second installment as I post this. Thanks, R&R.


	2. Sharing

Tsuyoku: Here's the second installment. All the reviews and people adding this story to their faves and alerts was enough to encourage me to continue, though it wasn't too hard. I'm pretty excited about this one through and through.

Well, onto the show!

CopyCat Chapter 2

--

Sakura had gotten a vague amount of sleep the night before, and after her meeting with Tsunade, she wasn't sure about how well training would go the next morning with her mind so preoccupied about her choice. She had hobbled along the road towards the Hokage's office, noticing how many people were staring at the kunoichi that was usually so energetic -- but little did they know that she was struggling to even _move_ having not gotten used to the weights yet.

Inside, the pinkette knew that somehow today's movements were slightly less miserable than the night before, but that didn't cause the elation of pride she thought it might. It was something she was sure to blame on the Hyuuga and his forced involvement in taking her home. She hadn't needed his help, a point that she made very clear although not clear enough if he still threw her over his shoulder. Thinking back on that, Sakura felt a chill roll down her spine much to her chagrin.

Every time she thought about it, the scene became more and more vivid -- focusing mainly on the points where her body had met his. Although Sakura hadn't paid enough attention to get the full experience of being the only woman to have gotten that close to Neji, she was definitely thinking about it now, and it was starting to get a little annoying. She was supposed to hate Neji, not become attracted to him; the resigned Hyuuga would only reference that sort of behavior towards him to the way she acted with Sasuke when they were Genin, and that wasn't who she was anymore.

The defiance in her system gave her an extra boost of energy, which allowed her to trot a little faster down the sandy street, although she was still dragging some of the dirt into her shoes.

"What the hell happened to you, Sakura? You look like you have an old war wound or something." A shrill, albeit familiar voice, staggered up behind her; the kunoichi turned to find Ino following closely behind. Her gaze locked with sage colored eyes before they motioned towards her feet.

"Oh… no. That's just something Lee's helping me out with." Her blonde friend raised an eyebrow at the thought, and Sakura knew that she had to explain lest some unreasonable made-up version be all over town by lunchtime. "Lee and I have started training together, and he's introduced me to these weights on my legs. Now I have to start moving more freely with them on to build up some strength. It's only my first official day with them…"

"I can tell. Listen, I'm glad I ran into you. My stomach's quite empty; how about you join me for lunch?" Sakura looked at Ino from the corner of her eye, not agreeing so easily if she remembered last time. "Haha, it really will be my treat this time. I have my wallet right here, see?"

The verdure young ladies started towards the middle of town, yet the frequent stops Ino had to make to let Sakura catch up served to make the blonde more and more amused at her friend. Sakura, however, felt like an invalid and demanded that Ino walk in pace with her for the entire trip. Walking so slow made Ino more hungry, and she began to egg her pink ally on, which made Sakura walk more fervently through the streets. It was good training, she would admit, but at the moment, such exercise was making her hungry and she wasn't in the mood to be teased.

"Well, you took so freaking long that we're even more hungry, but at least we missed the lunch rush because of you," Ino definitely knew where to poke and prod .

"Ino," Sakura sighed. "Was there something that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Her former rival looked as if she had forgotten about that subject, whatever it may have been. "Thank you for reminding me --" Her lips turned up and Sakura knew that Ino was stopping herself from commenting about their long stroll over there…

"I remember hearing something about Choji, Neji, and Naruto having to go get you from a mission the other day; what was going on with that?" Sakura sighed again; leave it to Ino to bring that up when the subject was still sore in her mind.

"Yeah, yeah. Some rogue ninja that Naruto and I were tracking caught me off guard and ended up knocking me out. When Naruto couldn't find me, he returned with some backup. The nin was 'neutralized' and here I am. Thanks for bringing it up…" Sakura hadn't gone into detail for the same reason she elaborated about her situation with Lee: Ino was a gossip through and through.

Ino's face fell, "Sakura, I hadn't meant to bring it up for that purpose… I was just…" The team 10 member blushed making Sakura's eyebrows rise almost the length of her forehead. She'd never seen Ino like this: her hands twisting, fingers poking each other -- it was quite like Hinata-type behavior, and truthfully the act was starting to scare her.

"Um, Ino… are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just… Well, did Choji say anything…"

"Say anything?"

"Yeah. Did he say anything about me when you guys were on this mission?"

Oh… Sakura should have known this was going to come out. For all the boy chasing Ino did on a regular basis (Shino, Shikamaru, etc.), she was acting rather strangely when it came to Choji these days.

It all started when they had gone to the Ichiraku months ago, and the usual group was crowding the back tables. Anyone that liked food or good company, namely Naruto, Lee, Hinata, Choji, Kiba, Tenten -- the social people -- were all crammed into booths and tables just laughing and playing along like there hadn't been a care in the world. And at that current point it time, no pressing matters were weighing on the shoulders of Konoha's ninjas: a relief from usual status.

Ino had had a few drinks; it was time to celebrate, her reasoning had offered, as she reminded the group for the fifth time that her extra bonus on the last mission had finally coming in and she was treating herself (and no one else) to a luxurious drink of alcohol, which had ultimately turned into two drinks, then three, and soon enough Sakura lost count from her own slightly blurred vision.

But as the pinkette began to sober up, mainly to witness the devious acts multiple ninjas were trying on each other, she turned her head in search of her blonde friend. Where had she gone? Sakura had promised herself that she'd keep an eye on Ino, since she hadn't be the best record when it came to drunken acts of violence or seduction, but alas, it seemed she had failed for the time being.

Apparently the commotion outside that Ino had probably joined was around Rock Lee and Shikamaru. As a fact that the entire village knew, when Lee had even a drop of alcohol, he instantly become intoxicated. And when he was... Lee suddenly became a master of Drunken style fighting -- the reason assumed by many: his muscle memory, his taijutsu obsession, etc. But whatever the reason was, he usually challenged anyone that was near when he was inebriated. This was no exception.

"I see you!" Lee's slurred words were amusing to the sober onlookers as he trotted around the lazy ninja. Shikamaru just looked at him, not drunk enough to be amused, but not sober enough to care about what he'd gotten himself into by accepting the taijutsu fighter's challenge.

"Lee! What are you doing?" Sakura yelled as his body moved into the beginning stance. She ran to him, putting her hand on his arm. "What the hell do you think you are doing? Ninja's aren't supposed to fight in public streets!" Her head barely dodged some of Lee's floating hearts, which swayed as if they were drunk too.

"My dear Sakura, I fight in your honor, believe me!" He lunged towards Shikamaru, Sakura still on his arm; in the yank, she was loosened and fell to the sandy streets watching as Lee and Shikamaru went at it. Whether or not one was going to defeat the other, Sakura didn't really care at the moment. She was mad at them for fighting but mad at herself as well for loosing Ino, who didn't seem to be stuck in the commotion outside after all. Her hands grounded themselves on the dirt floor and stood up. If Lee wasn't going to listen to her, then she was going to do what she came out here to do: find Ino.

The furious kunoichi followed the edge of the building to the back where voices sounded from darken alleyways in between the buildings. "Ino?" Sakura couldn't see, for the darkness had taken over but her ears picked up rustling, and soon the friend in question was standing right in front of her, slightly sober now, and was ushering her fervently towards the open streets once more.

"Hi, Sakura! Where did you wander off to?" She sounded sheepish, of that Sakura was sure. But who else had been back there, and why was Ino being so serious about concealing it?

"What do you mean 'where have I been'? Where have you been?" Sakura motioned towards the alley, "you been back there the entire time, or what? And who was back there with you?" Sakura once more tired to trek down the pitch black alley only to be pulled back by Ino. No doubt that the light haired ninja's strength had followed when her sobriety had returned.

"No! I think it's time to go home!"

And with that both the girls were soon on their way back to Sakura's place, while her friend avoided all questions about the night's events.

"C'mon, Ino! I want to know. You've never had a problem saying anything about boys before; what makes this one so special?" Ino just blushed and shook her head, easily seen by the varied street lamps lighting their way.

"No."

"Fine." Ino looked at her with a skeptical expression.

"What do you mean fine? Aren't you going to bug me some more?" Sakura shook her head.

"No, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to share... but if you don't tell me, and I find from someone else (somehow) -- you can bet that it's going to be over the entire village as soon as it passes through my ears."

Ino's face reddened even more. "Sakura! That's blackmail!"

"Not really; it's a promise." She turned and smiled, digging the key out of her pocket as they closed in on Sakura's apartment.

"Fine, I'll tell you."

That night, Ino had revealed that in a more or less drunken act, she'd all but seduced Choji behind the bar. To that day, Choji had interacted with his teammate about as much as he always said, but he never talked about it incident to her (or anyone else). Sakura shook her head, returning her mind to the present setting and inspecting Ino's face as she prodded her food.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" The blonde finally met her eyes.

"For things with Choji. I can see that you really like him, and since that night he hasn't really given you any reason to think he returns your feelings. Don't let it get you down."

"I'm not," Ino tried. "It's just... aw, who am I trying to kid? Karma is trying to get back at me for all the men I've used and abused in the past. Here I am, having found someone that I feel I could be with for longer than any time before... and now he doesn't really seem to be interested in me."

"It's not that, Ino. Maybe he just thinks you were drunk, and since you haven't said anything about it either, he's just assuming you're regretting it. Maybe you need to go talk to him--"

"Don't you think I have, Sakura? When I saw him out somewhere, I would instantly try to talk to him, to see what was wrong, but it's no use." She moved her dejected food bowl out of the way just enough to slam her forehead into the table. Sakura felt a little taken back by her dramatic show, but was understanding about how scorned she felt.

"Try talking to him one on one, somewhere private. Maybe he's afraid to get into it with you with other people around. I mean, has Choji ever had a girlfriend? He's slimmed down and now attracting more woman, but inside I think he's still shy. Give it some time and then try and get him alone to talk about it."

Ino worried her lip, pondering over the advice her friend had just give her. In her mind, Choji was always going to reject her, like he had blown her off the last few times. But maybe if Sakura was right, maybe if there was some truth to her speech, there could be a slight glimmer of hope. "You're right! What am I sitting here for?!" Ino jumped up and ran out of the restaurant leaving Sakura behind with a trail of now curious spectators.

"Ino! I said take some time!" Sakura yelled after her.

Pause.

Pause.

"And you forgot to pay!" Sakura slammed a money onto the counter and strode out, intent on spending the rest of her day off in the peace and quiet of her own home where she didn't have to deal with such people. "What are you all looking at?" And she was gone in a rush of red.

--

All the built up frustration in her over Neji and Ino among everything else had given Sakura a good boost of energy, which served well in making it much easier to move around in her weighty attire. This by all means didn't me she was able to run faster, or even walk normally, so she managed to ignore the stares and made her way home where she would be able to relax and not worry about the soap opera everyone's lives were turning out to be.

But as she sighed into a seat at home with a cut of strong tea in hand, something felt amiss in the air. She sensed something and looked up at the window... "Lee? What are you doing here?" All creepiness aside, Lee seemed to be casually looking into her front window, and Sakura could only raise an eyebrow before getting up to open her door.

He entered, as green as ever, and gave her legs a good look-over. He was looking at the weights, Sakura's eye twitched... just the weights.

"You seem to be a bit more agile in these than you were yesterday. I just came to see how you were doing with them on your off day, but this doesn't mean you can relax. I know you must be pretty tired from moving around, but you need to be up and about if you think you'll be able to move well enough to fight me tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Sakura hadn't noticed what he'd said for a second. At first, she'd been surprised at his serious and official tone about her weights. Clearly Guy had taken a lot of care with his weight training just as Lee was doing for her now. "You expect me to be up and moving enough to actually fight you by tomorrow?"

Lee looked at her and smile; for a moment, Sakura thought he might have been kidding her, but them he nodded. "Yeah, I'm at least expecting you to be able to move well enough." Sakura's head turned down to look at the weights, now visible as her boots were laying by the door. He grabbed her chin and forced it up to look at him, "You're going to at least have to walk well enough that people don't look at you in confusion every time you walk down the street."

Sakura blushed, "Yes, I've noticed that I attract a few weird looks." She sighed, "I'll try to be in shape by tomorrow." Lee smiled, and after a goodbye and refusal of a refreshment from Sakura, he left her till the next day.

As soon as he left, the rosette was busy at work trying to build more muscle. She knew that there was no way she'd be able to build up enough muscle mass to make her walk flawlessly by tomorrow, but she was at least going to try, if even for her own motor skills. She wasn't far into some leg lifts and some 'running' in place exercises in her living room when there was another knock at the door. Checking the window to make sure Lee hadn't forgotten anything, Sakura didn't see anyone.

She wandered over, slowly but surely to the door, and wiped some of the sweat off her brow before turning the lock.

There stood Neji Hyuuga. What the hell was he doing here; was he there to comment on her lack of basic walking skills? Sakura wasn't sure, but he seemed to already know what question she was going to ask him and answered it even as he stood on her stoop.

"I had a meeting with Tsunade."

Sakura frowned. This was about her accepting the mission with him; she knew this was going to come back and haunt her. "Are you going to ask me in?"

Sakura frowned; she wanted to ask him if he was going to be civil, but refrained. She walked towards the kitchen, leaving the door open. He could come in, but if he thought she was going to _ask_ him, then he had another thing coming.

Standing in the kitchen, holding an empty glass, Sakura contemplated Neji's attitude. It wasn't that he was uncivil towards people, quite the contrary, but his demeanor in general was of a condescending nature. And with that in mind Sakura wondered if she should take the high road and offer him something to drink... Just because he wasn't a very courteous person most days didn't mean Sakura was allowed to be a bad hostess.

"No, but thank you." He was at least appreciative that she'd offered something, Sakura noticed. But that didn't negate the fact that he was probably here to berate her for taking the job.

"Why are you going on this mission?" His voiced once more turned cold, not that it had much warmth in it to begin with.

"Tsunade asked me to be a medic nin for coming missions; I agreed."

"I don't need your help."

She looked at him in defiance and walked up to him as fast as she could with her weights. Her eyes would stare into his chest had she been looking forward, but they were trained solemnly on his face as she replied, "I don't care. I was offered a mission; I took it. You can't blame me for that." His stoic face was his only response at first, but he looked tot he side, as if avoiding her eyes.

He couldn't say anything to that, Neji knew, but it bothered him to look forward to enduring a lasting mission alone with her.

As if she hadn't plagued his thoughts enough with the image of her stretched out on the floor.

"You're weak; you'll hold me back." Sakura blinked as his vision held hers once more. Sakura raised onto her tip toes and tried to get as level as him as she could.

"We'll just see about that."

Neji could have sucked in a tight breath for how close Sakura Haruno was getting to him now. This was a man who never let anyone within three feet of him, and now her chest was all but flush up against his in her small, bright kitchen. His reason for coming over had been to question her about taking on that mission with him, yes, but it was been more along the lines of trying to convince her to not go... if only for his sanity.

He wasn't in love with her; he didn't even like her. But the physical attraction that his body felt towards her was overpowering when she was this close. He breathed in slowly, inhaling her scent, but Neji tried to hide the fact that he was enjoying her proximity -- even in the slightest way.

The Hyuuga genius screamed at himself to push her away, to show her that he was above such id-like behavior. He had spent his entire life trying to prove that he was stronger than everyone thought, that he was smarter than anyone had assumed because of his association with the branch family. And he wasn't going to let this woman, and the feelings in his loins direct such thoughts.

His hands touched her lightly, as little as possible, on her sides and pushed her back; he wasn't as forceful about it as Neji thought he might be, but she was finally at a good distance where his comfort could return. Sakura mentally shook her head. What had she been doing standing there pressed against him just staring at his eyes? She'd proven her point, or at least tried to, but inside there was nothing more important than the feeling on his heart beating through his chest... she still felt the pounding from her position pressed against him.

"Tell Tsunade you'd like another mission." And he turned and left before Sakura could say anything back. She scoffed; once again, if Neji thought she was going to roll over and obey him like everyone else he had another thing coming. She turned quickly to go back to exercising, but Sakura had forgotten about the weights and fell right onto the kitchen tile.

With a groan, she raised her head.

This just wasn't her day.

--

By the time her alarm sounded quite early the next morning, Sakura rolled over and threw the damn thing into her wall. She wasn't in the mood for this. Alas, however, duty called, and Sakura didn't want all of her work the previous night to go to waste. She had made sure before she went to bed that walking was no longer an issue for her. For the most part, her strides were fluid, but far from walking as if nothing was wrong.

As her legs swung from the edge, the rosy warrior sustained a groan: her whole body hurt...

Sakura knew that today's practice was going to be nothing should she not take action to heal her pained muscles before she arrived. Her hands glowed green and slid along her thighs and up her body until relief swan through her appendages. She sighed.

Time to get going.

Sakura vowed to take her shower after training, or maybe she would skip to a long luxurious bath to relieve the aches that today's workout would eventually give her. Shaking her head, the girl padded into her kitchen, turning on the bright lights in the still dim, barely there light of the rising day.

Rock Lee was once again stretching and full of energy when she came into the clearing... Boy, was it going to be a long day.

And it was. By the time that Lee let her go, she felt beaten and bruised, thought Sakura knew her opponent had taken it quite easy on her; Lee wouldn't willingly intend to hurt Sakura even if he was ordered to. Now, however, Sakura felt more hungry than ready to take a long bath. She strode towards the Ichiraku, surprised even at herself at how much easily she was able to walk after just two days. She supposed that the chakra training Tsunade had been putting her through had helped a bit in that department.

But as she walked through Konoha's busy streets, Sakura Haruno couldn't help but feel more than accomplished. She'd been enhancing her chakra use, training with Lee, and she felt better because of it. Maybe by the time Neji and she went on that mission, she'd been in good condition to give him a piece of her mind. At the thought of the Hyuuga genius, she paused in her march to flash back again from the previous night.

She'd gotten so close to him... pressed so close to him. What had he been thinking? He probably thought that she was coming on to him or something along those lines. It infuriated her to think that his image of her was of a weak kunoichi that attached herself to strong men...

She sighed. There was no beating it -- the only way Sakura knew to change Neji Hyuuga's opinion of her was to _show_ him that no matter what she was anything but insubstantial.

Approaching the ramen bar, Sakura heard a commotion towards the entrance. Looking up from her preoccupation she spotted Naruto of all people dancing around with flowers in his hair, jacket, and any other place he could have stuck them. It was a... colorful sight, for lack of a better word, and when Sakura noticed the ring of flowers upon his head, she nearly burst out laughing as the rest of the spectators were.

"Naruto," she said, amused, from a few feet away. "Did you lose a bet or something?" He just kept dancing, and sand something off tune along the lines of... 'No, Sakura-chan, I just feel very pretty today.'

Sakura sighed, and was about to walk into the bar, the entrance of which said orange blob was blocking, when suddenly he bent over coughing and looked as if he didn't know where he was.

Singling out Sakura of all people, he ran up to her when he saw his atrocious attire.

"Sakura!" Confused tears filled his eyes. "What's going on, why do I have flowers all over me!!!" She shrugged, but not soon enough for suddenly there was a burst of guilty (but amused) laughter from inside Ichiraku.

Ino was the first to emerge -- then Tenten, Choji, Kiba, and Hinata (who was looking a little angry at Ino for some reason.) But it took Sakura only moments to figure out.

Mind Transfer.

She thought Ino never did it unless she was fighting, but for practical jokes a technique like that was, well... practical.

Sakura looked in awe. She'd never seen Ino perform it so perfectly before, and it did nothing if not install a better opinion of her friend into her heart. Said girl looked over and noticed Sakura standing there watching the others as they grasped their stomachs in attempts to subdue the tenderness of their abdomens.

Ino crossed to Sakura, silently inviting her to take joy in the joke as the rest of them were, but when she became closer and closer to the pink combatant a serious look replaced it.

"Sakura?"

The young girl shot her head towards Ino; she shook her head, "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Um, I have a favor... it's a little weird." Ino shrugged, anything for a friend that had stuck with her as long as Sakura. "Will you teach me the Mind Transfer?"

Her blonde friend's eyebrow raised in wonder. "Sure," she mentioned, but her words were still unsure of Sakura's real intentions. There couldn't, however, be anything wrong with sharing.

--

Tsuyoku: Hi everybody! Got this one done. Unless I suddenly get inspiration on one or the other, I think I'm going to be swip swapping and taking turns with Sound Sleep and CopyCat. Hope you're starting to get an idea where the name's coming from -- it'll get elaborated on (and better!) in later chapters. Hope you enjoy, and as always, pressing that little 'review' button at the bottom _always_ helps me update faster. ^.~ R&R


	3. Swip Swap Love Affair

Tsuyoku: Glad you've decided to come back for the third installment! I'm getting more along with the story as of this new chapter, so please review and let me know what you think.

Onto it then...

CopyCat Chapter 3

--

Ino wanted to ask what it was for, but the ever prying blonde thought better with one look from Sakura. She was content with teaching her friend the secrets of the Mind Transfer... but what was it for? Ino had slight reservations about this, not to mention the setback of teaching it to someone who was not from her clan.

"I understand about that, Ino," Sakura counteracted once the blonde had gotten enough guts to ask her. "I know that it's a big deal for you; it's the family secret. Lee has been training me for a while. I guess I just assumed that you would too; though Lee's training methods haven't been so secret since the Chuunin exams so it's not a problem for him.

"It's not that, Sakura." She paused and turned the cup in her hands. Ino's kitchen walls were a pale yellow, which the light bounced off of and flooded the area with natural light. The color suited her friend. "I just... I need to know why."

Sakura shook her head mentally; of course Ino would want a reason. And asking something so serious of her, Sakura should be willing and able to present her motivations for such a request. "To become stronger." One of Ino's eyebrows lifted in a curious expression. "I realize that my skills as a medic nin surpass most ninjas, and that's my strong point. However... that last mission that I took I was captured. I was easily taken, and I couldn't even escape. That's why Tsunade had to send the rest of the group... for me."

She lowered her head for a second. Just talking about it made Sakura feel like a failure, but before those thoughts overtook her she reminded herself of the work she'd been doing in her time home. It would just be a matter of time before she had a chance to show Neji what she had transitioned into. "And training with Lee has allowed me to become better in some areas, but I felt if you helped me along then that would just be one more step towards progress."

Ino sat there for a second. How was she supposed to say 'no' to that? Not that she was going to refuse in the first place.

"Let's do it."

--

Sakura practically fell onto her bed. The sun had long set, and it was nights like this that the pink haired ninja wondered to herself why she had suddenly decided to take on so much at once.

Although training with Lee was no longer an issue, she was simultaneously dealing with Ino, Naruto, and Tenten. How she'd managed to convince them to educate her in their ways, Sakura would never know... but it was proving to be a real development in her case.

With Ino and the mind transfer, she'd started learning to morph her chakra and abilities to possess things -- mostly logs and other inanimate objects. That had been a grueling and embarrassing couple of days. Since then she'd actually moved on to the harder levels.

Tenten had been introducing Sakura to weapons usage in the past week, since the pinkette had never been particularly adept to anything but a kunai and other common equipment. This was the most lenient of her training sessions every day, though that did not mean it was easy in the least.

And the rest of her day had been consumed by the most draining session. Naruto, when she had mentioned her training to him over some ramen, had suggested the Rasengan. She'd been shocked. This technique was something that Jiraya had taught him -- was he even allowed to pass it on to someone else? Nevertheless, Sakura knew that Naruto would be true to his word, and if it was a problem for him to teach her then he wouldn't be offering in the first place.

She sighed. And of course she had to do this entire process with Lee's weights still on. Thank goodness she was only meeting Lee once or twice a week to have an in-depth spar. He refused to remove the weights; in fact, Sakura was sure he was secretly increasing the weights when he 'checked' them after fights. But that was all fine and good for Sakura. She wasn't putting many hours in the hospital these days, and this was a great way to fill the time. Her training with Tsunade about chakra had turned out to be indispensable to her current activities.

With a groan escaping her lips, the girl rolled over and looked past her new alarm clock towards the calendar. There, circled in red, was the date she would be leaving with Neji for their mission. It wasn't but a few days away, which made Sakura anxious as to whether her training with Naruto and the others would be complete by then.

Neji. She hadn't seen much of him since their encounter in her very kitchen that night, save a few passing encounters outside of the Hokage's office or on the street. He never said anything, didn't look at her, nothing. It was unsettling because she knew that he noticed her all but staring at him from the other side of the hallway or street.

Sakura used her arms to push up from the bed intending on taking a long luxurious bath, where she could heal herself from the days long drawn activities.

--

Neji sat outside the Hyuuga branch compound attempting to meditate. The chore was turning out to be more and more fruitless by the day as his thoughts were continuously directed towards the pink haired kunoichi.

He looked for peace, but attaining it was harder. This was a true display of how tainted his thoughts had become over this girl. Damn physical attraction... if he had just recognized it when he'd seen her weighed down and defenseless by that nin he might have been able to do something about such feelings. There was plenty of female companionship that the Hyuuga family offered -- a gesture meant to erase any scandal that erupted from a member searching for 'intimate opportunities' on the street, but Neji was not interested in such behaviors.

He would have to conquer this obsession through any means. If these conceptions overlapped with the coming mission, his teammate (and object of chagrin) would boast a certain advantage over him since she obviously was above fantasizing over him.

He had never been plagued by such prospects; it was unnerving.

His leg moved from underneath him, and he leapt into a standing position to head towards the main house. What was the point of continuing his meditation when he was already unsettled? He was getting nowhere in his normal daily activities as these thoughts over took him. There was only one way he was ever going to get through this -- talk to her. There had to be some flaw about her that might distract his attention from her and force him to focus on his training as before.

But how was he going to go about that?

It wasn't as if he was able to walk up to the woman and ask her to 'hang out' for a bit -- even Neji knew that they weren't close enough. However, he did have to set up some kind of meeting with her; it was his only chance. The Hyuuga clannie walked straight towards his room and melted into his desk for writing.

'_I must meet with you. The training grounds, south side, six o'clock. I expect you not to be tardy._' He quickly jotted down his name and folded it up enough that he could slip it underneath her door, which would ultimately save him the trouble of having to ask (or demand) it of her himself.

"She had better be there tonight," Neji murmured. "My sanity depends on it."

As he strode down the sandy, rocky roads weaving in and out, Neji wasn't able to look as proud as he usually seemed. He assumed that it was something to do with the fact that he was carrying a letter such as this. People walking past him paid him no attention, or at most a nod or batting of the eye, but in his mind they all could tell what he was doing. It was as if he had 'I am committing scandal' written on his chest.

Paranoia was not very becoming of a Hyuuga, and it was quickly shifting into his downfall.

He met gazes with her front door as the clan member scanned the insides to check it's inhabitants. He blinked in relief as his Byakugan resulted no one in the dwelling at the current time, and once the envelope disappeared from sight underneath the door Neji might as well have teleported out of there for how fast he left.

As he had mentioned, this behavior was very, very unbecoming of a Hyuuga.

--

Sakura found herself standing across from Ino in the field near her apartment about to commence the last of her training with her best friend; she took in a hard breath for the moment and prepared her mind and chakra.

"Just imagine it all; you'll have to use your chakra to cross over into someone else's body and shove their own mind into the back of it.

"I don't see why I have to be the guinea pig for this experiment!" The orange suited man (having taught Sakura all he knew was of little use if not for some testing) wiggled about against his specially knotted ropes. If Sakura's trial run went successfully, she was to untie the ropes around him using his body, ropes knotted to the tree so specially that there was only one way to undo them.

"Shut up, Naruto! You're going to break her concentration!" The long haired blonde swiveled to Sakura, "I've taught you everything piece by piece, it's now your job to apply it all together." Truly Sakura was beginning to feel the chakra in her body pushing against their wells as she remained still with her eyes closed. Behind her lids the scene was just a blurry, blue representation of what surrounded her, which was materialized in her mind by the chakra. And in the midst of it all was something, or rather two somethings glowing ahead of her. Now that her companions were silent, Sakura moved her mind around to the two entities, but she couldn't quite tell which one was which. The chakra was waiting for her, however, and burst out of her in a straight path to the closest mind -- there was a flash of light behind her eyes.

"Ugh, that hurt," it had taken Sakura a moment to react from the would-be shockwave, but when she opened her eyes she was next to Naruto. Her head shook side to side, "I guess it didn't work, but I have no idea why. Everything felt right. She reached up and easily loosened the ropes around his raw wrists.

"Sakura, what have you done?" Sakura turned her head toward Ino and adjusted her eyes, which were slightly blurry from the blast... when everything cleared she realized that Ino was already sitting up from her position a few feet from her. Hands came up to rub her face awake until she realized that her nails weren't usually painted this color, and Ino wasn't usually that pink.

"Ino...?"

"Sakura, what the hell did you do?!" With the images now clearing, Sakura was suddenly staring into a carbon copy of herself... or more like she was actually looking at herself, only it was Ino, but it was her as well.

"You're supposed to take over Naruto's mind, not switch our bodies!!!"

Ino grabbed Sakura, who was currently in her body, and ran from the training grounds as fast as she could -- which wasn't very fast at all considering Lee's weights were on Sakura's body and Ino wasn't able to lift them very well.

Sakura shoved Ino onto her back and flew toward her apartment.

--

Sakura's foot, or rather Ino's to be precise, scraped the side of a paper as she walked though her front door with her best friend trailing behind. "What the?" Her own hand, which was currently under Ino's control grabbed at the offending envelope and made to rip its contents open.

"Hey, that's mine!" Sakura's grabbed at Ino, but the sly woman wriggled free.

"Yes, and it's addressed to Sakura. If you haven't forgotten, right now _I_ am Sakura. Besides, it's such masculine handwriting." Sakura's accosted her own body in vain as Ino's green eyes were scanning through, "Oh, it's from Neji! He wants to meet you in the secluded training grounds later today!" Sakura's blonde head shot up; that fact that it's sender was Neji was enough to shoot back memories of their last meeting -- her pressed against his chest in defiance, his eyes boring into hers. She gulped and blushed for an instant before Ino's silence made it apparent that she waited for an answer.

"What?"

"What do you mean, 'what?', Sakura? You have something going on with the Hyuuga; I can sense it." Ino couldn't blame the girl; Neji Hyuuga, as arrogant as he seemed sometimes, was one of the men she'd never been able to sway. Just a turn of his head toward her, a kiss with his soft lips, Ino sighed. A girl could definitely dream. She woke of her reverie at Sakura's stuttering about the kitchen; had Sakura succeeded where she hadn't? "Come on - you can tell me, Sakura," in fact, Ino figured her gorgeous pink head might explode then and there if her companion (in her body) didn't set the record straight.

Haruno turned, "that's kind of funny coming from the village gossip! There's nothing going on." When Sakura looked up at her own body waving the letter, she sighed, "does any part of that letter seem romantic or endearing to you?"

"Hn, no. But I always pegged Neji for the 'hard love' kind of guy."

"You don't get it, Ino; it's not about that. Tsunade gave me some missions, and in a few days I'm going with Neji toward the land bordering the other countries. They've been tracking a rebel group at the Hokage's office, and we're just going to gather some surveillance." She moved to sit on a bar stool near the counter, "I guess he feels like he could go alone, bit there's a high chance of retaliation should we be discovered. Therefore a medic was included as well. Ever since he found out, Neji's been hinting (not too subtly) that my best interests are to go to Tsunade and resign the assignment."

"Psh, slim chance that you'd ever do that; what Neji doesn't realize is your stubbornness knows no bound, like his." She shoved the note to her own hands, Sakura picking up the document in her body. "It says not to be late; are you going to go?"

Sakura nodded, "but how are we going to switch back? I can't go looking like you' he'd never believe me when I told him about our -- my screw up. Though if he did, I'm sure he would take good pride in witnessing the consequences." Ino showed worry for a moment.

"We'll just have to wait until our chakras reverse to normal by themselves. I have no idea how this would work, and I'm not going to ask my family since they'd kill me for teaching you in the first place. If it doesn't happen by then, I'll go in your place." Sakura looked a little weary of letting Ino go out in public as she. They're personalities might resemble one another in the slightest, but how they showed it was definitely a different story. "But Sakura," Ino paused on her way out. "Don't forget that being egotistical sometimes does not define Neji -- there's a person there too you know. I'll be back before six to go over what you want me to say if we don't switch back." Ino turned and walked out as best she could; she needed a little time to get used to being in a different body.

Sakura stood at the kitchen counter just staring at Neji's beautiful script. 'He _must_ meet with me...' the short term blonde rolled that around in her head for the time being. 'It just seems less demanding and more desperate, but that's not Neji in the slightest, is it?'

_The man in front of her had punched every nerve of hers since they were little, but she wasn't going to let him bully her into backing down from this -- she needed this mission if only to prove to Neji (or herself) that there would be no more damsel in distress anymore. Her breath was as obvious to him as his was to her; they could feel their chests push against each other, but neither cared in their little staring competition. _

Sakura didn't realize how close they'd been... How fine was the line between wanting to prove herself to him, and her obsession over it? For the moment, she couldn't help but blush, which for once in her life wasn't amplified by her hair. She didn't even like Neji, as she was positive he felt the same toward her, and the last thing she expected to be doing was desiring him of all people. It had been a long time since she'd been intimately involved with a man, let alone hankered for one. This couldn't happen; it would only hinder her personal mission should she even cogitate the subject of her and Neji Hyuuga together like that in any way, shape, or form.

--

Ino puffed and huffed her way home, regretting leaving Sakura's house in the first place, but there was no turning around once she'd gotten this far. 'Darn, how does she make walking in these weights look so damn easy?'

"Sakura?" Shit. Now Ino was really regretting leaving her friend's residence: it was Rock Lee.

"Hi Lee," she didn't even know how Sakura was treating fuzzy eyebrows these days.

"Why are you limping, sweet; I thought you were able to walk fine with the weights now?" Shit again; he was right, Sakura had no trouble walking in these things anymore... lucky bitch.

"Um, yeah. I just tripped over my own legs and , err, hurt my leg, but it's fine, no bad."

"Why don't you just heal it as usual?" Damn again -- Ino obviously hadn't though this through. Ino had no idea how to heal something as well as Sakura could; the pink one was always there to do that stuff.

"I'm just sticking it out on my way back to the apartment," she smiled hoping it was convincing enough for the annoying man to back away and leave her alone -- at least until Sakura and she traded bodies again.

"Ah, trying to buff up the old pain tolerance, eh?" Lee slugged her arm. Ino kept her smile in place even as small pains screamed in her arm. "You're going home? I thought was back there; you're going the wrong way, you know."

'Oh hell; he's not going to quit!' Ino sighed inwardly, the smile she persisted to hold was wavering in her undying annoyance. "Yeah, just got turned around a bit!"

"Oh, well, allow me to escort you; I have some things to tell you about since you're obviously not good for some training today," he turned and squatted down. "Would you like a ride since you're only slow us down?" Her green eyes twitched and she almost glared at him. Sure, for treating Sakura the same she deserved it. Sakura, on the alternative, would not appreciate being seen carried by Lee by any of the townsfolk, would she?

"Sure, sounds good."

--

A pair of white eyes in the forest looked up from a scroll to see Sakura Haruno being carried by Rock Lee of all people. He grimaced inwardly for them both and shook his head -- he lowered his gaze and began reading once more.

--

"Ino! What are you doing in my Sakura's apartment?" Sakura lifted her head at Lee's bellow upon entering the unlocked door. Past him Ino stood smiling, but at least she had the decency to look slightly sheepish about it as well.

"_Ino_ is here visiting; I told her to meet my at my place to... help me with my fashion sense. Right, _Ino_?" Lee looked slightly confused and Sakura openly glared at her friend.

"Yes, Lee. I'm here out of the goodness of my heart; I had some free time because all my boy chasing has yielded me with no boyfriend of my own, so I have to bother poor Sakura with my presence." Behind Lee, Sakura could see her own body positively fuming. 'Take that, Ino.'

"Why, I outta -- "

"Okay," Lee interrupted before anything erupted while he was there. "I'm going to head out now; just remember everything I told you, Sakura. I'll expect to have another sparing session with you before your next mission." At his leave, Ino slammed the door behind him.

"What was that all about?"

"What do you mean, Ino? You started it with bringing Lee here in the first place, and then you went and said that stuff to boot!" Sakura walked over to the couch and clicked on the TV. Ino went into the kitchen to put enough space between them.

"What was I supposed to do? He commented about my walking, or lack thereof, and what I said I'd just hurt my leg he offered me a ride back to _my_ place. I didn't want to have to walk all the way back here!"

"Wait, he gave you a ride here," once again, Ino nodded sheepishly. "Who knows who could have seen you! Alright, we're going to change back now; you've obviously done enough to my image already."

"And what about _my_ image?"

"What about yours? I've done nothing but lay low in the short time we've been like this, and that's exactly what you should have been doing -- and will continue to do if we can't switch." Sakura stood, "You're better than me, so you try it." Ino frowned, but sat down no loss and started concentrating on Sakura's form in her mind.

"Fine, I'm tired of looking like a freaking piece of cotton candy already!" Sakura let that one slide. Ino finally threw her chakra out of Sakura's body toward her own. "Hey," she thought looking down and examining her own body. "Nice to be home, eh Sakura?" The pink body, however, was slumped over on the bare counter seemingly unconscious. "What? It didn't work? Dam nit!" She slammed her hand on the counter and quickly switched back once more.

"Ouchies!" Ino grabbed at Sakura's now wounded hand...

"Did you even try?"

"Of course I did, Pinky, and it didn't work. I was in my own body, but yours was empty. This had better not be permanent.

"I hope not," she slammed herself back on the couch in a flurry of long blonde hair. "Now sit down; you're not going anywhere until you meet with Neji."

"Whatever, I can't go anywhere no matter what," she motioned to Sakura's weights as they both slightly smiled at each other before jamming onto the couch next to their own bodies.

--

"Don't do anything stupid, Ino, I mean it." The girl just rolled her green eyes for the fiftieth time that day.

"I won't." Sigh.

"Just make it clear that you -- I -- whatever, won't say 'no' to Tsunade and then leave him. Nothing else, you hear me?"

"You don't trust me?" Sakura threw her friend a look that said, 'You know very well that in this situation you wouldn't trust me either,' yet she refrained from saying it aloud. It didn't really occur to Sakura at the time that sending Ino out to meet Neji posing as her was one of the most important ideas that would ever strike her mind.

The able girl threw Ino onto her back for the second time that day, "I'll take you as far as the woods, where you'll meet and then return here. I'll be waiting -- you shouldn't take that long."

Ino limped slowly but surely to the training grounds, heading south where Neji would be waiting. The young girl pondered for a moment what she might do if he had been there waiting for her in secret instead of Sakura... there wasn't much room for error here since it was Sakura's neck should Ino overstep her boundaries in her best friend's body, yet the opportunity was so appealing that the would-be blonde was almost tempted to do so. The woods were so quiet, the usual nins that inhabited the ground during the day had given up their obsession to go home to their families, to their beds, etc. Ino scanned the areas with her senses before she felt a small lingering ki that set back from the normal path; Neji was being careful and hiding it until he could confirm it was her, she supposed.

The Hyuuga genius leapt from the tree, where he'd chosen to watch for his most recent partner. "Glad you made it on time."

Ino was taken aback for a fleeting period at his bluntness before she regained composure. "Why wouldn't I? You're letter demanded it." His eyebrow raised for a second.

"You deft to do everything I demand?"

Ino frowned, he had caught her there. How did Sakura handle him as he was? Her feet shifted in her boots against the rough, brown dirt in the grounds. It almost echoed between them in their silence.

"What did you call me for, Hyuuga? To convince me to leave you alone with this mission?"

"Perhaps."

"Well if that's the objective then you'd best to just save your breath," Ino fought back the chance to get as close as she'd imagined on the walk over. Her steps toward him turned into strides until she was close enough to make out every feature of his in the fading Konoha light. "I'm not going to back down; you're going to have to give me one good reason to resign this duty that I have been assigned."

He measured the strength in her eyes for a moment before lamenting inwardly. Was there no action that she could take, which would relieve his obsession of her? She stepped closer, and even without the Byakugen he was able to tell that there was something different about Sakura than the last time they'd interacted. She never took her eyes off his as she rose her hand to hover over his cheek, not daring to touch lest he disagree.

Ino was screaming at herself inwardly, her heart was beating so faithfully that it threaten to burst open her chest or knock the very breath out of her at the thought of touching Neji. He had forever been this trophy on the mantle that she could never reach, and now that he was within grasping distance she would take her chance for just one taste of the sweetness that had evaded her for so long -- even at Sakura's expense. She might even be doing the girl a favor.

Neji was just as nervous and confused at her actions than she was. "You wanted to meet, but you chose such a secluded place...Why was that, Neji?" He took a chance and leaned into her floating hand, not relaxing like she'd hoped, but remaining as stiff as a board in this new, unknown territory. Wind wrinkled their hair, and with the moon showing through the colors of the sun losing luster, it was a perfect setting. She put pressure on his face as Ino compelled himself to let her a chaste touch before her time as Sakura was up. He let her lead him -- his eyes a never-ending pale void that remained fixed onto this kunoichi's face until they were close enough to kiss.

"What the?" Sakura rose from her sitting position against a tree at the edge of the woods. She grasped her heart with some vigor as a new pressure echoed off the insides. Behind her eyes it was white for a full instance as she knelt to the uneven ground and returned to her rightful place.

"Neji?" Her eyes widened for a moment as she suddenly blinked and found herself not an inch from the man of her thoughts. What had Ino done--

He had been hovering behind the boundaries for some kind of sign, anything at all that would break the barrier between them and allow him some kind of action. As she paused and then spoke his name aloud, all Neji's reservations about backing away faltered and he closed the gap between them.

Sakura gasped inside as he touched lips with her.

--

Ino found herself kneeling in front of the woods once again in her own body. She froze in realization at the position she'd just put Sakura in... it fell heavily upon her shoulders and she couldn't really think. The blonde just rose and walked in a bee line toward her home with a sadness in her eyes. And to think: after all that she hadn't gotten the side of Neji she wanted.

--

Tsuyoku: Hi guys! Long time no see, unless you've been following along with my SoundSleep fic, which will have explained my new found muse (dusts off her muse) and I'm ready to better serve you guys! How did I do? Questions, comments, concerns? I would love to hear from my avid readers, so please click on 'review' and let me know, kk? As usual the feedback gives me more and more motivation! ^.^ [Note: if there are any holes, let me know as well, k? I hadn't too much time to proof read.]


	4. What are we?

Tsuyoku: Hey guys, business sent me away for an entire week, but my laptop didn't make it out with me, so I wrote down at least half of this chapter while I was away... you should be excited about that. I know I am. It's going to be an eventful next couple of chapters... so get ready for some plot emotional roller coasters as we really get into the NejiSaku part of the story. KTHX, R&R guys!

CopyCat Chapter 4

--

Sakura paused for a moment, standing still as if her life depended on her placid muscles. If there had been any forewarning to Neji's sudden affections, Sakura doubted that she's have even then been prepared to receive them. Nevertheless it was confusing... the impulse to return such favors was almost overpowering her senses. Neji Hyuuga or not, he was still a man and she a woman. There was definitely a deep attraction from the center of her id, but Sakura wouldn't lie to herself -- those feelings weren't all originating from some of her more primal instincts. Her mind flashed back to what Ino had said; he was more than just an egotistical bastard. In fact when his mouth was shut and his nose wasn't so much in the air, she would dare to say that his more attractive qualities showed through.

She wanted to push on his chest -- make him stop right then and there and leave her be, but that wouldn't be enough for her in the end. Sakura knew that. She first relaxed into his touch, placing her hands upon him, but not to push away. Neji noticed this; he had been equally surprised about what he'd done in the heat of the moment. It felt so good to relieve this pent up energy that had built and increased in him every time he saw this woman; that did not, however, condone what he was currently doing to the girl. If she motioned for it, he would stop; should she encourage him though, what was he going to do?

In a stroke of courage, Sakura finally curved her arms around the back of his neck careful not to tug on his long hair, which was pressed between them. Her mouth timidly pushed more firm against his own as she didn't pretend it was Neji -- Sakura didn't pretend it was anyone. All she could muster in her mind was that there was a man even slightly attracted to her enough to kiss her, and because of the feelings it sent to the pleasure center of her brain the pinkette was not about to back away for such human contact. Neji's thought mirrored her own as his hand, which had been migrating to her hips, clasped tightly about her waist, and in a flurry of pink and brown he backed her up against the nearest tree and kissed her like he'd never kissed a woman before. Sakura, mind almost blank except to control her roaming hands, returned the kiss as best she could -- never quite forgetting just who she was getting suddenly intimate with.

And just like that the two parted in mutual confusion and merely looked at each other. This just _had_to remain a secret, "It has to-"

"I know," he stated, leaning down with the intent to continue their meeting with the knowledge that this would forever stay between them. "But I can't just walk away and pretend that this never happened."

'Neither can I,' her mind replied silently. Neji tried to focus on anything but their touching figures while mentally scratching his mind for something to say. "Where do we go from here then, Neji?" Her emerald eyes searched his face for some waver, a hint that might warn her if he was about to let her down after their almost tryst in the woods just minutes previously.

But after a short while his white eyes barely softened, "my estate." This statement of his warranted the gasp she'd been holding the whole evening to fly out of her mouth. Was the cold Neji Hyuuga asking her back to his place to... to sleep with him? In all honesty Sakura's lower half was pulsing, heating at the very tempting thought of following the young man home, and Neji was banking on that urge to win if only to put an end to this aching for her inside his mind and body. Her face slowly evolved from shock to blank, which served to enerve Neji's anxiety even more.

"Neji, what you're asking -- it's too much. I barely even know you, nor do you know me. No matter the moment, or how you're made me feel, I can't bring myself to give in like that when I'm not sure of how it will effect our actions toward each other or the coming mission. I'm sorry." She did this time push him with a slight touch to move out of her way, but her hand lingered just a little longer than it needed to. His face remained stoic until her attention was on the path back to town; only then did he allow it to drop into a creasing, familiar Hyuuga frown.

He hadn't found but one flaw in her tonight: she was imperceptible to his Hyuuga persuasion -- he would have had this woman had it not been for her defiance. His body leaned on the tree he'd pinned her to, which stilled held her warmth in it's rough bark. Had it not been so out of character, Neji would have groaned in frustration, but even though many of his actions tonight were unlike his usual self, he refused to add to that list.

That one flaw, the mark in her persona that he'd come to discover now urged his desire further toward the front of his mind. He wanted Haruno even more so that his obsession was going to be the end of him should she not say a final yes or no to his actions. Yet Sakura still walked off with an unspoken promise that this wasn't the last of such a conversation between them, and Neji Hyuuga could only covet their next meeting with the slightest appetite that their tryst had created.

--

Sakura faintly wondered to herself just what exactly had happened between her and Neji; what had transpired in just this one day was enough to confuse her for a lifetime. She'd screwed up Ino's Mind Transfer, became Ino for the day, and when she returned to her own body it was in quite a position with Neji. "What did you do, Ino? I told you nothing stupid -- just let him know that my mission comes first and nothing else. What the heck did you start?" She leapt from the rooftop toward her own window, unlatched it silently, and slipped into the dark unknown of her bedroom. She sighed, tired of such a long day with so many decisions and even more consequences. Neji was so much greater an enigma than he had been before, thought what this meant for their current situation Sakura couldn't imagine at the moment. As if they hadn't permeated the air with a thick, awkward attraction just days ago.

She shivered in the warm air of her apartment, remembering now the imprint his body had left upon hers. How could he have gotten the nerve to ask her back to his place? The rosette rolled into her bed with all her gear on, a kunai beating into her leg, but Sakura was thankful for the pain to take her mind off today's events and soon lulled into a dull sleep.

--

" What the hell did you do with Neji last night?" Sakura burst into Ino's quarters without so much as an announcement. The blonde looked up from her morning flakes, spoon poised to enter her open mouth, but she thought better than trying to talk to Sakura with a mouth full of food.

"Well, hello to you too, my friend. Actually I should be the one asking you that. Did I miss a moment or was there an anticlimax after all?" The redhead gaped.

"You set me up?"

"Dear Haruno, you know I would never set you up like that. Now I'll admit, it was more like setting myself up for something. You can't refuse that the moonlight was enamoring enough -- so romantic."

"Let me get this straight; you decided for some reason that it was a good idea to hit on Neji Hyuuga while in _my_body? Didn't I tell you precisely 'no funny business'? I should have known better than to send you to do my work." She sighed in exasperation and threw herself into the seat across Ino's table.

"He was already very strongly hitting on you... with his eyes that is. I just moved things along. The fact that fate chose that exact moment to trade our souls back was just cruel." She spooned the food into her mouth, spitting some milk in a very unladylike way as she tried to continue her speal. "Besides, you haven't told me what happened after I left you two alone."

"I can't believe you. Setting me.. you... whatever up in the first place, then you expect me to spill the beans about the whole ordeal? I don't think so." It was Ino's turn to gape.

"What? I give you Neji on a platter; I haven't had any man in months... the least you could do would be to let me know if my best friend was at least getting some."

"Getting some? Psh, like I'd tell you on the off chance that Neji and I did anything at all," Sakura paused to raise her finger. "Which it didn't; so what's your sudden obsession with Neji and I these days?"

"Who says I'm obsessing? I'm just curious that's all. You can't really blame me -- especially not when it comes to the very handsome Neji Hyuuga. He's finally showing some attraction toward a woman: the Hyuuga genius whose only interest has ever been fighting." Sakura looked unconvinced, one eyebrow in the air just staring at her 'best friend'.

"So, you're sure you didn't stick around to see the whole thing?"

"I was very tempted to, but given the circumstances I thought you might be mad at me enough. So I went home, thought what I wouldn't have given to see you and Neji make out."

"You were there!"

"You mean you actually did make out with Neji?" Sakura's face blurred with her hair. "I knew you couldn't hold it in for long." Ino pointed her finger across the table for emphasis.

"But you said you were there--"

"I never said so; I just pulled out the truth with some editing of my words. It worked perfectly didn't it?" Sakura glared at her with fear and anger mixed in, as if she felt like punching her but would end up failing and crying instead. "Sakura, I... I didn't mean it like that. I'm just curious... Are you alright?"

Are you alright... it was funny how you can compose your features so that a statue would be envious, but as soon as someone asks the inevitable question you're going to spill something. Mainly tears, which slid down Sakura's cheek in small dosages in her silent anger for her friend, her co-worker, her situation.

"I just-- I'm so confused," the young woman threw her hands into her hair in a blubbery attempt to straighted out racing thoughts in her mind. "I don't know what to think anymore. Neji has made it obvious that he wants me, but to what extent? And even thought I know that it wouldn't be anything but sleeping together, am I to still follow him like my body compels me to?" Ino just looked at her; she hadn't expected her friend to spill this much, but the confidence Sakura was showing in her was very empowering. "Ino, it took everything I had not to accept the offer he made."

Ino's eyebrow rose, "offer?" Sakura just nodded. "That's serious; this kind of behavior isn't Neji. Either he's finally getting to that 'experimental' stage that he apparently missed in puberty, or you've got some kind of special power over this man because he doesn't seem to focus on anyone but you. He could quite possibly have any woman in this village if he wanted to. So what about you does he like? Maybe you need to focus on that for now, and before you let the man get any farther maybe you need to make the situation clear."

"And what situation is that? We're going on a mission in just days; there's no time to get into anything. What if it doesn't work out? Are we going to have to ride that out during our time," she gulped," alone together?"

"It seems that you have until then to decide, yet don't take too long. Let him know before he jumps your bones anyway." Ino winked; even her sarcasm, however, wasn't going to penetrate the dull expression of dread on her friend's face. "Go on. Do something today, and if you just happen to run into Neji, you're going to just follow your instincts. Don't let it get awkward; heck, it might make the mission with him more bearable if you're helping each other along." Sakura blushed as she opened the door to leave.

"You don't have to be so blunt about it, Ino... sigh. But I swear, if you gossip about this to even one soul there will be consequences. Give me your word." Ino nodded, knowing that Sakura would promise lots of pain if she told anyone.

"Fine."

--

In a bare moment, the atmosphere thick and floating in slow motion as she contacted with the rough bark of another tree. It's predecessors had met quite similar fates, one by one pounded in a fury of attacks and punches lined with enough chakra to vent her vexation at the images plaguing her thoughts. There wasn't enough air to supply her lungs with the deep breaths Sakura needed, but she reveled in the feeling of being so on edge of suffocation that her movements were almost ethereal in the experience.

'I can't even think about it anymore; I lose concentration on my goals every time Neji invades my cognizance, yet he has always been my light at the end of the tunnel for improvement. Neji Hyuuga has been the beacon to outshine ever since that embarrassing incident when my weaknesses were all but lain out in front of him when he rescued me.' She split the tree bark again, again until it was threatening to follow the others in disintegration. At least this was boosting her will power. She was ready to get out there on the mission, begging almost for some kind of combat where the fruits of her obsession could be displayed in front of a most scrutable audience.

It was clear around her, save the trees Sakura had chosen to take out her anger on; the area behind the Hokage's office was her escape... from him, from everything. It was notably a surprise when she felt more than heard the steps of a familiar presence. How was she going to face him? Sakura hadn't even thought about their next meeting let alone how soon it would be; instead her first thoughts were to ignore him while she conjured up something to say that would break the ice.

Her swift punches and kicks to the trees were as strong as the tears burning her eyes in confusion. With every blink her limbs attacked the plant, which was close to giving way. The silent spectator stood back watching her spectacle in admiration and trepidation. He too was confronted with the battle of what to say. Had it not been hours since he had held her close, slammed her body into every crevice of his? The best words to follow that were not always the most readily accessible -- and he opened and closed his mouth uniformly many times before watching the dust clear around her.

The timber, her barrier between ignorance and approaching the inevitable conversation had toppled into pieces on the hard dirt below her boots. Neji still had not come closer, but behind her back his unmoving form seemed as inarticulate as her own. "Neji, I--"

"I don't know what this feeling is quite yet," his baritone voice cut off her timid tone, of which she was thankful. Sakura's sentence had been heading nowhere in particular. "I can't explain what this is, but I can't take it any longer. The more I'm in your presence, I can sense something calming about the sensation, yet no matter what I do it's not going to break the beating in my chest to just be near you casually." She finally crossed her legs and swiveled to meet his eyes. This was a hard conversation to endure. Was he trying to confess something much deeper than lust to her... could he have developed the more than platonic emotion in their so little time together?

That's what Sakura feared. That it was all temporary. For her emerald eyes darted the area sensing that some pressure had built up in her chest as well. Had she grown infatuation of some sort for him in just weeks like she prayed Neji had?

"I can't take rejection, Neji." She threw courage to the wind and held up her head to his eyes, "so I'm just going to make this clear. If we start something, or anything at all happens between us, know that I'm in it for the long haul. I can't take being used again and again for satiation and then thrown aside. Can you respond to that -- because if you can't then I'm going to ask you to kindly turn on your heel and let this fall back into something less intimate." She pleaded with his to turn back anyway, to save her the time and hurt should he ever change his mind.

"I can't walk away," noisy steps on the solid ground lessoned the distance between the would-be couple until he was close enough to reach out and caress her arms. His temptation was overthrown by the comment at hand. Neji now understood that he was going to have to earn it before Sakura would let him get close to her physically or emotionally. "I can't make a promise, either, but what I will allow is my word. On my given name, whatever actions I take in the future will never be to hurt you in any way. I don't know how it will proceed, but what I am certain of is that everything stops," his hand reached out, one finger nudging her bottom lip, "when I touch you, kiss you." He leaned in slowly.

Much like the night before, Neji never took his eyes from the girl as he approached her flushed and worried face. It was his goal to wipe the anguish from her mind, and no matter how long that took Neji was certain he could prevail.

If the woman had made him feel, made him change so much in this small time he was more than secure there would never be a need for anything more in the forthcoming. He met lips with her, only then closing his white eyes. She returned the motion and let his kiss slide over her mouth will the utmost gentle respect as Neji cupped her chin in his hand. It was brief, fleeting in the moment, but enough that she was assured for the time being there was no reason to continue her uncertainty now.

--

A blonde woman watched the sun floating into the mid sky through a southeast window in her office. The clutter at her desk had banished the Hokage to the sill where an orchard of trees greeted her view. Sakura, the famed apprentice of the Godaime, flashed from stance to stance ignoring everything but the immobile opponent in her front. There wasn't a more devoted student around, save maybe Lee, but Tsunade doubted that his spirit for commitment and self improvement could outshine her surrogate daughter's at the moment. Inside, a beam of pride gleamed at the sight.

Until another stepped into view.

A dark figure, opposite her Sakura in position, color, attitude, everything, approached from the west entrance. She shook the bottle of sake in her hand slightly before lathering her lips with it's bare flavor. The warmth coating her throat wasn't enough to sate the curiosity at Neji Hyuuga seeking out Sakura so fervently.

He waited for the demise of the wood before making a comment, though the leader knew Sakura had been aware of his subsistence from the start.

And in the coming minutes, Tsunade could only gaze more intently at the pair as their exchanged words pronounced ardent expressions on Sakura's visible face. Neji's was turned from her, but in experience the blonde figured it remained as stoic as normal albeit the slightest animation. He hadn't shown body language like that since she'd known him, and now his posture countered the Hyuuga bearing in a more human-like, affectionate almost, motion as he closed in on the cherry blossom.

If he hurt her then and there, Tsunade could promise the window to shatter with rage as she leapt from it and tore him limb to limb. Damn the Hyuuga clan; Sakura was family.

But when Sakura practically welcomed his touch, she relaxed. The Hokage stood for another tight look and was intending on giving them privacy had Neji Hyuuga not laid lips onto her apprentice. The scene splayed before her as the two shared an intimate moment under cover of the remaining trees, "Sakura, what are you doing?"

Not more than a week ago Sakura had been in that very office ranting about the clan member in question -- and to find this exhibition taking place in her own backyard Tsunade was more confused than angry, though that was in the forefront of current emotions as well. Sakura was getting into something that could possibly prove to be awkward for the entire system in the long term. Would there be any convincing her differently?

The Godaime threw one last glance at the parted couple and flopped into her desk chair almost at a loss of what to do now. Shizune, however, took that moment to enter with another round of drinks and papers for the next few hours. Tsunade rubbed her temples and threw Sakura's rendezvous to the back for now.

--

As the lithe young man finally made his way into her office Tsunade resisted the urge to slam her hands onto the table before her and demand to know what was going on between them. Instead the Hyuuga was met with a stare that could rival some of his clan (save Hinata of course). With her hands clasped in the air supporting her chin she did all she could to control her fixation until one of them broke, but the long haired Neji Hyuuga was not impressed in the slightest. Though he might say that Godaime could intimidate the right person easily this wasn't one of those situations, "you're wasting both of our times. You of all people should know that after a lifetime of enduring my place in the Branch family your attempt at interrogation falls short. Lady Hokage, what have you summoned me for?"

She pursed her lips, brown eyes glowering even though Neji's words were the truth. It was entirely no use for her to stare the information out of him; asking was going to have to do," what exactly is going on between you and my protege, Sakura Haruno?" For a moment Tsunade was hoping his facade would falter in the slightest, but the straight look he'd sent her from the other side of a roughly covered desk said that he'd expected as much. "But you already knew what I was going to inquire about." The brunette nodded once.

"Does my answer have anything to do with a mission or affairs of state?"

"Quite possibly it might. Depending on the situation you two are in, it could effect your missions greatly. How you act as a ninja is key to everything, and I don't want you two screwing this up for yourselves."

"With all do respect -- are you saying this as the Hokage of Konoha of the master of a most favored apprentice?" He turned to leave, "see _emotions_make all the difference, and using them to achieve your goals is key to being a ninja. I've missed out on that experience, and concerning her I will no longer conceal what I want." The Hokage was more than shocked, but she knew better than to show it. Neji left without so much as another utterance.

'Am I just being too protective of her?' she thought scooting to the side and brushing past the desk to the window. In the woods, a vision of the young Sakura she'd met years ago appeared sitting on the grass trying to repair a log for the first time. Beside her a much older specter pounded her small chakra infused fists at a tree that no longer stood tall. Tsunade smiled slightly at the memory -- Sakura had worked all day at her chakra to build enough backing in her punches to shatter that thing. Maybe Neji was right; the brown eyed leader was truly aware of her apprentice's abilities to take care of herself on the battlefields... or in love. Whatever her and Neji would get themselves into they could probably handle it.

--

Where were they going to go from there? Sakura put her fingers up to her temples for the fifth time trying to blot out the insecurities that arose in her mind from her and Neji's talk earlier. She sat quietly on a bench inside the Hyuuga estate, having been lead there by Neji so they could talk more privately. 'But does he expect me to just jump straight in bed with him now that he's made his intentions clear?' Sure, he said he was in it for the long haul for certain (if these feelings went anywhere at all) but what now? She leaned back, uncomfortable slightly at being inside the estate walls without Neji there.

He'd been summoned to the Hokage's office. Sakura had many scenarios as to what that might mean: she knew about them, something happened with the mission they would begin in just days, Tsunade was giving him some sort of beating for even coming close to her... there were just too many options when it came to the Hokage. If it did pertain to their would-be relationship could Tsunade give them her blessing? 'No,' she said to herself as she noticed Neji entering the grounds. 'I don't know if we are official now, much less letting the entire village know. They can't find out until I'm sure.' And with that thought she rose from the bench and stood waiting for Neji to cross to her.

Without another word Neji scooped her up in his arms and gave her a full in kiss, pausing in the passion for moments to caress her nose with his and wrap arms fully around her figure. Where this had come from Sakura was unsure, but even as the members of the estate were sure to notice Neji's affections she realized that he was probably doing this for that reason. "I'm never going to give up on us."

Sakura took aback after Neji whispered that into her ear. A blush spread over her face as she turned to follow him into the estate. A maze of rooms and hallways ensued as Sakura had never seen a domestic establishment so big in her life. Was he leading her to his chambers? Shouldn't she say something!!!

He knelt down in front of a doorway, Sakura following suit, and rapt slightly on the door frame. "Yes," echoed a deep voice from inside. Sakura resisted the urge to turn her head and inquire at Neji for he slid the door open to reveal a traditional study. In the center of it all sat a fearful man: Hiashi Hyuuga.

"I have someone to formally introduce to you, Lord Hiashi."

Sakura sat unmoving, wondering why Neji was going to far... 'he's serious, isn't he? Even about what he said in the garden...'

"Come in."

--

Tsuyoku: Hey guys! This one took me a little time to put together since I wanted a few different views on Sakura and Neji's 'situation'. Plus you can be positive that not only will the mission (next chapter) be up to par, but there will be a little hurdle for them to overcome in more ways than one. I will be working on it and Sound Sleep, so expect a new update soon and I hope and plead that you will Review and let me know your thoughts on the story's track so far. As always, thank you for returning, R&R!


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